THE PROBLEM WITH MUCH AI-POWERED ADVERTISING IS THAT IT’S MEANINGLESS

21. 4. 2026 | 6 min read Audiences aren’t tired of advertising. They’re tired of low-value, repetitive, over-personalized noise that constantly demands something from them – and AI is turning up the volume.

CANNES LIONS ANNOUNCES ITS 2026 PROGRAMME

21. 4. 2026 | 6 min read Oprah Winfrey is honoured as the 2026 Cannes LionHeart. A global line-up of creative legends, innovators and cultural voices will take to the stage including Stella McCartney, Patagonia and Google DeepMind.

CAN AI DRIVE BRAND STRATEGY? AND WHY IS CREATIVITY DISAPPEARING FROM CREATIVE WORK?

14. 4. 2026 | 5 min read Whilst artificial intelligence can outperform humans in operational tasks, it still has its limitations when it comes to strategic brand management. Its solutions lead to the mediocrity and indistinguishability that characterise contemporary advertising, according to speakers at the Brandstorming conference.

ADC CZECH AWARDS PUBLISHES A GALLERY OF ENTRIES

31. 3. 2026 | 2 min read The ADC Czech Creative Awards competition has made the gallery of all 257 entries available.

PRAGUE FILM FESTIVAL 2026: FEATURE FILM PREMIERES, SHORT FILMS AND MASTERCLASSES

22. 3. 2026 | 5 min read From 14 to 19 April, Prague’s iconic Kino Pilotů cinema will become a meeting place for film professionals and enthusiastic audiences alike. The Prague Film Festival 2026 will present feature films that have not yet been screened in the Czech Republic, a selection of short films – some of which premiered at prestigious international festivals – as well as a masterclass on The Godfather, the Anirama pitching forum, and other professional and networking events. The festival is aimed at both Czech and international audiences (all screenings feature English subtitles) and is open to viewers aged 15 and over.

GOLDEN DRUM KICKS OFF ITS 32ND EDITION, ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS UNTIL 26 AUGUST

11. 3. 2026 | 1 min read The Golden Drum International Festival is kicking off another year. Entries can be submitted until 26 August.

STUDY: ADVERTISERS BOOSTING SPENDING ON CONNECTED TV, NEW STUDY FINDS

2. 3. 2026 | 3 min read Premion, Advertiser Perceptions respondents see best results when linear TV and CTV are coordinated.

THE VISUAL TRANSFER EFFECT: HOW SOUND BUILDS BRANDS

24. 2. 2026 In collaboration with neuro-marketing agency Unravel, Talpa Media has produced the scientific proof that audio does not just complement TV. It actively reactivates it, reconstructing visual brand memories in the consumer’s mind through sound. The findings carry significant implications for how audio is planned, sold, and valued within the wider media mix. Context Talpa Media is one of the Netherlands’ largest media companies, operating a broad portfolio of TV, radio, and digital platforms. That multiplatform reach puts them at the centre of a question: what actually happens in the brain when consumers encounter TV and audio advertising together? Specifically, Talpa aimed to explore whether prior exposure to a TV commercial changes how the brain processes a matching audio ad, and whether that effect can be measured without relying on conscious recall. Research Forty participants were fitted with EEG caps to capture real-time brain activity and exposed to commercial breaks from 14 brands. The study used a two-group design:

CHANNEL 4 SHOWS HOW PUTTING ACCESSIBILITY FIRST BENEFITS BOTH CUSTOMERS AND COMMERCIAL WITH CURRYS’

24. 2. 2026 Context Channel 4’s Diversity in Advertising Award 2025 set its brief under the theme “Inclusive by Design”. It asked brands to embed inclusive practices into the creative, rather than at the end of production. The initiative linked that ambition to airtime: £1m of advertising space across Channel 4’s portfolio sat behind the winning campaign. The brief framed the size of the audience affected by sight or hearing loss at nearly 20% of the UK population, putting an access gap into plain planning terms.

USING ELECTION NIGHT VIEWING HABITS TO MAKE A RETAIL MESSAGE FEEL LIKE ENTERTAINMENT

24. 2. 2026 This campaign connected Bauhaus’s retail messaging to a major national television event. In Finland, municipal and regional elections feature hours-long results TV programmes that track vote counting as results come in. Bauhaus (a major home improvement retailer) partnered with the biggest national broadcaster, Sanoma, to create branded entertainment within this format, using “price” as the central theme.

WHEN DISNEY CAME TO DANCING: A LIVE SHOW BECOMES A FAIRYTALE

24. 2. 2026 Inspired by Disneyland Paris’s Disney Music Festival, where performances by Disney-movie characters fill the park with dance and live music, DPG Media’s creative team proactively conceived an unprecedented brand integration: a dedicated Disney-themed episode of Dancing With The Stars. The concept was not driven by a client brief. Knowing the client’s wishes and dreams, and recognizing the natural connection between the Disney Music Festival and Dancing With The Stars, Team Integreate (the creative team within DPG Media) pitched this unprecedented collaboration, which Disneyland Paris immediately embraced.

WHEN A CROSS-FORMAT APPROACH MULTIPLIES IMPACT: BOL × HUIS GEMAAKT ACROSS CONTENT & CONTEXT

23. 2. 2026 Description Bol is Belgium’s largest e-commerce platform, a household name for buying books, electronics, and everyday items online. But furniture and home décor? That was not what consumers associated with the brand. DPG Media set out to change this perception through a multi-format partnership with Huis Gemaakt (“Home Made”), a popular Flemish TV show where couples compete to renovate run-down properties, with the winning couple keeping their fully transformed home.

A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS AD BREAK AS PRIMETIME ENTERTAINMENT

23. 2. 2026 Background In the Netherlands, Christmas commercials hold a special place in television culture. Much like the Super Bowl in the United States is known for its spectacular commercials, the Dutch festive season is the moment when brands showcase their most creative, emotional storytelling. Over the years, several Christmas campaigns have achieved iconic status, moving and entertaining millions of viewers and winning the Ster Gouden Loeki, the public award for best commercial. These campaigns demonstrate how advertising can contribute to the collective holiday spirit.

GIVING SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSES THEIR FIRST TV SPOTLIGHT

23. 2. 2026 Background B Corp certification is a globally recognised standard for businesses that meet high levels of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. The certification is awarded by B Lab, a non-profit organisation. In the UK, there are thousands of certified B Corps, many of them small businesses with ambitions to reach mainstream audiences at scale. Channel 4 saw an opportunity to use its platform to spotlight these purpose-driven businesses while supporting its own sustainability commitments under the Ad Net Zero Action Plan, an industry initiative to reduce the carbon impact of advertising.

ELEVATOR PITCHES MADE REAL: GIVING BLACK ENTREPRENEURS A NATIONAL STAGE

23. 2. 2026 Black-owned businesses in the UK face significant barriers to success. Only 0.24% of venture capital funding reaches Black founders, and one-third of Black entrepreneurs struggle to gain belief in their ventures. Channel 4, in partnership with Lloyds Bank (one of the UK’s largest retail banks), created the Black in Business initiative to address these disparities. Rather than simply highlighting the problem, the initiative addressed it by removing barriers to accessing national television advertising, enabling Black-owned businesses to scale.

WHEN SILENCE SPEAKS LOUDER

22. 2. 2026 Code of Silence was a landmark drama for British television. The show starred Rose Ayling-Ellis, a deaf actress who became famous after winning Strictly Come Dancing, a popular British celebrity dance competition. In the drama, she plays a deaf woman whose exceptional lip-reading skills make her central to a covert police investigation. The production featured cast and crew from deaf, disabled, and neurodiverse communities, with innovative on-screen graphics that visualised how deaf people piece together conversations. ITV saw an opportunity to extend this representation beyond the programme itself and into the commercial break.

TURNING ONE TRAVEL OFFER INTO TWO TV STORIES FOR TWO TYPES OF FAMILIES

22. 2. 2026 Attraction Tickets sells Florida attraction tickets and theme-park hotel packages to UK customers. It has served more than five million customers since 2002 and offers access to destinations including Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld and Disneyland Paris. In a competitive travel market, people compare options quickly, and marketing is judged by its ability to turn interest into bookings.

BUILDING TRUST FOR PRIVATE HEALTHCARE BY PUTTING DOCTORS FIRST AND USING TV AS A TRUSTED NATIONAL STAGE

20. 2. 2026 Campaign objectives To challenge the belief that only state hospitals deliver life-saving care, AKFA Medline decided to produce a doctor-led manifesto film and placed it on national TV, with IM Service handling broadcast delivery, timing, and exposure for a sensitive message.